Monthly Archives: July 2016

Generation 2050 is a non-profit social enterprise which publishes children’s books to inspire a kinder world. They are raising money on crowdfunder. Recently I caught up with Nicola Gothard to learn more about the effort; here’s what he told me:

What is the social benefit you hope to achieve with or through your crowdfunding campaign?

We aim to raise enough to money to send 1000 books to four charities in India which will use the books for humane education and literacy programs. Three of the charities -Help Animals India, Tree of Life for Animals and The Welfare of Stray Dog all work directly in animal rescue to reduce cruelty to animals through prevention/education and rescue. The fourth charity KISES work with children who live on a rubbish dump in India and receive no formal schooling.

Reaching our campaign goal would mean so much to the charities benefiting from these books and in turn the children and animals that they help. As well as being fun and educational for the children, we believe this story will inspire them to see street dogs as emotional, individual beings that deserve compassion.

How much money are you hoping to raise and why? How much have you raised so far?

We are hoping to raise £1000 to cover the cost of printing and shipping the books to India. We got off to an amazing start raising £700 in the first we but we are struggling to maintain momentum and currently have £730 in the campaign fund.

Whom are you trying to help with your project and why?

Our project has a multitude of benefactors but ultimately it began through wanting to improve how street dogs are treated in India. The project benefits the charity beneficiaries by enabling them to deliver their humane education outreach work more effectively. It benefits the children they work with by providing them with a fun, educational and inspiring story to learn about empathy and improve their literacy. It also hopefully ultimately benefits the dogs of India when the next generation grows up to treat them with more, empathy and respect.

What rewards, if any, are you offering to your supporters?

Every book sold will pay for three more to go to India, so you can enjoy a good read and give the child in India the gift too, some of who will never had had a book of their own. We also have lots of other rewards for donations such as beautiful prints and even the chance for an advance copy of our upcoming title on the five needs of animal welfare.

Generation 2050, a social enterprise that publishes children’s books to inspire a kinder world, is launching a crowd-funding campaign on the 13th July to raise £1000 to send 1000 copies of their new children’s book ‘Rafi’s Indian Dream’ to four charities in India who run humane education programs.

Nicola Gothard created Generation 2050 after teaching in South Korea, where she became convinced of the value of education for positive change. She decided to go it alone and start her own business publishing books and learning resources about animal welfare and the environment for children. She believes passionately in the power of story-telling to change the world for the better, ‘Stories bring ideas to life by allowing the readers to step inside the lives of people and animals other than themselves, which develops their capacity for empathy and understanding,’ says Nicola Gothard, Founder of Generation 2050.

The idea for this book began in December 2015 when Indian Animal Charity, Tree of Life for Animals, approached Generation 2050 to create a story that could help them deliver their humane education program and create and sense of empathy and understanding for street dogs in Indian children. India has more than 30 million street dogs and there is a vicious cycle that begins with fear of dogs biting, which leads to cruelty and aggression towards them, which then causes dogs to fear people and react defensively. Clara Nowak from Tree of Life for Animals says ‘Teaching children begins the process of changing the generational fear-cruelty cycle’.

Rafi’s Indian Dream, is a heart-warming tale of friendship and compassion between a street dog and a homeless girl in India. Not only will the reader enjoy exploring the sites of India with the characters but, they will also learn about the lives of children and dogs in another part of the world and develop an understanding and empathy with situations, people and animals outside of their direct personal experience.

Generation 2050 decided they would like other animal welfare groups to benefit from the book and the idea for the crowd-funder to raise enough funds to distribute 1000 books was born. The welfare groups benefiting from the campaign include, The Welfare of Stray Dogs, Help Animals India, TOLFA and KISES.

Nicola Gothard created Generation 2050 after teaching in South Korea, where she became convinced of the value of education for positive change. She decided to go it alone and start her own business publishing books and learning resources about animal welfare and the environment for children. She believes passionately in the power of story-telling to change the world for the better, ‘Stories bring ideas to life by allowing the readers to step inside the lives of people and animals other than themselves, which develops their capacity for empathy and understanding,’ says Nicola Gothard, Founder of Generation 2050.

Third party research agency reports Seedrs has made more investments in 2016 year-to-date than any other equity crowdfunding platform

Seedrs market share exceeds 50% of equity crowdfunding in the UK

Seedrs has funded 78 equity deals in H1 2016

Press Release – London, 29 July 2016: Seedrs, Europe’s No. 1 equity crowdfunding platform*, announced it has been named as Britain’s most active investor in private companies again.

A new report released today by an independent research firm, shows that Seedrs continues to dominate the equity crowdfunding sector with Seedrs breaking away from the competition as the most active investor in the UK this year.

Seedrs is ranked number one with 78 funded deals at the halfway point in 2016 according to a leading source of objective deep data on UK startups and scale ups. The company is experiencing exponential year on year growth with 55 deals funded during the same period in 2015, and 43 deals funded in the first half of 2014.

Seedrs has a 50%¹ share of the UK equity crowdfunding market in 2016 with its closest competitor Crowdcube falling behind with only 40% whilst all other platforms have 10% combined. The latest report highlights Seedrs move away from the competition.

Standout funding rounds on Seedrs so far this year included challenger bank Tandem, which raised £2.2 million in a matter of days from 1712 investors, West Berkshire Brewery which raised £1.7 million from 647 investors, the UK’s fastest growing P2P lender Landbay which recently announced a partnership with Zoopla and reached £1.6 million with 407 investors; beauty-on-demand app blow LTD which raised £1.3 million, FinTech50 2015 member, annual travel ticket subscription service CommuterClub, which overfunded to £1.2 million.

Seedrs has now funded more than 380 deals since launch in July 2012, and based on global ranking Alexa, has significantly more people using its platform than any other equity crowdfunding platform in Europe.

Jeff Lynn, CEO & Co-Founder at Seedrs said: “We are delighted to continue our lead as the most active equity investment platform in the UK and to have funded 78 deals in the first six months of 2016. The gap between Seedrs and the closest competitor is also increasing as Seedrs continues to take 50% market share of all UK equity crowdfunding activity. It is a great start to what looks set to be a record-breaking year.

“We haven’t seen a notable slowdown since the referendum in spite of fear mongering around the country. The UK is still attractive and safe for inward investment and will continue to be one of the number one destinations for entrepreneurs to set up a business with its favourable tax reliefs, streamlined business incorporation and simple transport abroad.

Earlier this year, Seedrs was named a Bloomberg Business Innovator 2016, an accolade that recognises “the people changing how the UK lives, works and thinks,” as well as joining Tech City UK’s Upscale Programme of 30 of the fastest-growing UK tech companies.

Check in daily to see what is happening in Debt and Equity Crowdfunding in the USA

It has been 73 days since Regulation Crowdfunding kicked off and the data is starting to pour in. Regulation Crowdfunding allows any American startup or SME to raise up to $1M from their friends, family and followers on debt and equity crowdfunding platforms that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

CCA is pleased to announce the launch of the CCA Regulation Crowdfunding Indices in conjunction with Crowdnetic. We have created this resource page that is being updated daily as a place that the industry can use as a snapshot on the growth of this market.

Initial data is revealing just what we had expected:

A slow logical progression of offerings and a rational approach by investors. This is no wild west.

A couple of campaigns have already hit their funding targets and closed. This shows the speed and efficiency of capital formation that can be experienced by solid campaigns.

One campaign, Beta Bionics that makes a wearable medical device that autonomously manages blood sugar levels in people with diabetes already hit the maximum $1M funding cap from 780 investors. This provides evidence that there is appetite for increasing the maximum raise from $1M to $5M as per the recently passed Fix Crowdfunding Act.

There have been 70 companies that have registered their offerings with the SEC on 14 portals. Again showing that a regulated process brings serious issuers and platforms to the industry and investors.

These companies have a total of 271 current employees signaling our hypothesis that crowdfunding may be a job creator.

Looking at the distribution of capital commitments ($) we see that California is leading the pack in both number of issuances and total capital committed.

The early story is “slow and steady wins the race.” Regulation Crowdfunding offerings are occurring exactly as we predicted, a rational and measured pace. This is very similar to what happened when Title II of the JOBS act went live in 2013. It is important to know that this is a market with NEW investors in a NEW type of investment, in a NEW market with companies that are NEW to being able to raise money. All of that NEW means that this market will take some time to develop. What we are excited to see is we are seeing quality platforms seeking quality deal flow to offer to customers.

Press Release – New York, NY July 28, 2016. Onevest announced today the acquisition of FounderDating to create one of the largest and leading networks of entrepreneurs and advisors, in combination with Onevest‘s subsidiary, CoFoundersLab.

The strategic appeal for the acquisition is clear. In addition to FounderDating’s large and curated community for finding advisors and cofounders, their Q&A platform – FD:Discuss – has grown in popularity, boasting 3-4 answers in under a few hours to new questions and a 90%+ response rate.

With CoFoundersLab and FounderDating now combining efforts, their reach runs deep, allowing entrepreneurs to access the resources they need to thrive from team matching algorithms, to community discussion boards and a variety of certificate courses around how to create and scale businesses. FounderDating’s community will be combined under the CoFoundersLab brand to create the ultimate platform where company creation and growth is fortified.

“We are thrilled to welcome the FounderDating community into our entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Onevest’s Executive Chairman Alejandro Cremades, “Small businesses are the growth engine of our economy, not to mention the catalyst for innovation and change. We exist to provide entrepreneurs the resources, tools, and support they need to succeed. Together, we are committed to accelerate startup growth and empower even more people to positively impact their community and the global economy through entrepreneurship,” said Cremades.

FounderDating, was originally launched in 2012 by Jessica Alter. The platform, best known to help like-minded entrepreneurs find their co-founders and advisors, has become the go-to place for early stage team building. With this acquisition, Onevest will be the largest platform to aid entrepreneurs from team formation through funding and beyond. “We’re excited for this next chapter and building a full-service network to help the exploding entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Alter said.

Similarly, CoFoundersLab, which Onevest acquired in 2014, is a platform where entrepreneurs can connect with potential cofounders and advisors to build strong founding teams. In the last two years, the platform has facilitated hundreds of thousands of introductions, leading to many successful startups such as Imperative or Revolv (acquired by Google).

In an effort to further expand the one-stop-shop experience, CoFoundersLab recently launched CoFoundersLab Learning Center to educate entrepreneurs on everything from launching a business to raising capital. While this has been tried before, it’s never been done on a platform that already has a captive audience. With this launch and the FounderDating acquisition, the Onevest ecosystem is poised to fulfill it’s mission of leading the “Age of Entrepreneurship” by becoming the resource center for startups to flourish.

About Onevest

Onevest provides technology products to connect founders, investors, advisors and influencers in the entrepreneurship community seamlessly and easily. Onevest is currently operating 1000 Angels which is an invitation-only investor network and CoFoundersLab, the largest network of entrepreneurs.

Mindful Chef closes on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs today after an exceptional week of investment. Whilst seeking to raise £400,000, the brand has exceeded £1 million in funding and has closed weeks before anticipated.

Giles Humphries, co-founder at Mindful Chef says: “We are delighted to have overfunded in such a short period of time. The demand has been phenomenal; this is huge validation of the business and has left the whole team energised about what the future holds. We are looking forward to bringing healthy eating to thousands more households across the UK.”

With household names including the Beckhams and top league sports stars, amongst the growing list of fans of the healthy recipes, the future of Mindful Chef looks promising.

Olympian Victoria Pendleton adds: “Having discovered Mindful Chef recently I couldn’t speak more highly of the product. The quality speaks for itself and as soon as I heard the guys were crowdfunding I knew I had to be involved. I am looking forward to helping spread the word about this fantastic new business.”

Advocating convenient healthy eating for the busy individual, couple or family, Mindful Chef is expanding to offer their services to more health-conscious homes, to benefit the entire country. Mindful Chef currently delivers gluten-free, organic produce with no refined carbohydrates to homes nationwide. Customers choose the recipes, Mindful Chef source and deliver the produce and the customer cooks and enjoys the meals. No fuss, minimal waste, just delicious and healthy meals.

Three remarkable men with variant qualities and experience saw a gap in the market, and joined together to launch Mindful Chef. Co-Founder Robert Grieg-Gran was a time-poor, global investment banker who ate badly at his desk for 7 years, whose mission is to offer the nation good quality, ‘farm to fork’ meals. Second co-founder Giles Humphries, worked long hours at M&C Saatchi and preparing healthy meals was unwillingly replaced with grabbing fast food with no nutritional goodness. Giles brings digital marketing and brand experience to the executive team. Lastly, co-founder Myles Hopper, personal trainer and nutritional coach brings health credentials and expertise to the team, regularly keeping a strict, close eye on the nutritional value of each recipe.

Current investors include former Global Chief Strategy Officer of Interbrand, Leslie Butterfield CBE who commented: “This is one of the most promising brands in one of the strongest growth markets right now. High-quality product, talented team and major growth market – that makes for a very powerful brand! I’m really excited to be supporting the Mindful Chef team as they build a great business and a powerful brand for the future.”

The healthy recipe box brand raised funds to increase marketing, invest in their technology to enhance the user experience and build a state of the art mobile app. Mindful Chef’s long-term vision to sell other health and lifestyle products to homes nationwide is now a reality.

In the US, research firms like Technomic have pointed towards recipe boxes making up $3-5 billion of the $1.2 trillion grocery and restaurant market. If that holds in the UK, recipe boxes would be 0.25% of the £178bn grocery market. That means potential annual revenue of £44+ million for Mindful Chef alone.

Fund to Give $1 Million to Classrooms Across the Country in Support of Creative Environmental Lesson Plans

Press Release – KENNEBUNK, Maine – July 14, 2016 – Remember the curiosity that was sparked by an interesting school project? Recall the excitement at unearthing a new way to solve a problem? Starting today, a simple vote can help students create similar memories and inspire them to make a difference in the world around them. The Tom’s of Maine “Green Your School Fund” is investing in kids and asking for your help in determining the most creative environmental projects submitted by educators nationwide. Visit greenschoolfund.com to vote daily through October 17, 2016.

The “Green Your School Fund” is a new initiative from Tom’s of Maine, a pioneer in making products that are natural, responsible and sustainable. The company has teamed up with DonorsChoose.org to give $1 million dollars to classrooms nationwide so students can roll up their sleeves and understand at an early age the impact they can have on the planet.

More than 250 projects from 40 states were submitted and a panel of judges that include musician and actor Kevin Jonas; enterprise editor and senior reporter at The Huffington Post, Kate Sheppard; CEO of TerraCycle, Tom Szaky; 2016 National Teacher of the Year, Jahana Hayes; and founder of the I am the Maven® blog, Kerri Jablonski, chose the ten most creative ideas as finalists. Now, communities across the country get to choose their favorite classroom lesson.

The project that receives the most votes will receive $25,000 in funding to turn their project into a reality. Second place and third place winners will receive $15,000 and $10,000 respectively and seven honorable mention projects will receive $2,000 each. The fund is also distributing more than $900,000 to classrooms across the country. As such, every educator that submitted an idea to the Tom’s of Maine “Green Your School Fund” has already received 50 percent or more in funding towards reaching their project goal. The public can also help support these projects in classrooms across the nation by contributing at DonorsChoose.org/greenschoolfund.

“Incorporating a healthy routine into a child’s daily life involves more than just teaching them how to take care of their bodies, it also includes teaching them how to take care of the communities where they live,” said Susan Dewhirst, public relations and goodness programs manager at Tom’s of Maine. “Our hope is that the projects submitted as part of the Tom’s of Maine ‘Green Your School Fund’ will help teachers to introduce their students to ways they can make a meaningful impact in both their school and their community, and then take these lessons and apply them as they grow into adulthood.”

“One of the best gifts we can give today’s students is an appreciation for the environment, yet too many teachers lack the supplies and resources to bring these science lessons to life in their classrooms,” said Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose.org. “We’re thrilled to work with Tom’s of Maine on their ‘Green Your School Fund’ program. This initiative showcases the importance of environmental science education and shines a spotlight on some of the most creative and inspiring projects from teachers across the country.”

Tom’s of Maine gives 10% of its profits back to helping people and the planet. Employees are encouraged to give 5% of paid time to volunteer and this year marks the company’s 46th anniversary. Additional information is available at tomsofmaine.com/greenschoolfund.

About Tom’s of Maine

Tom’s of Maine is a leading natural products company focused on oral and personal care, carrying high quality toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss, deodorant, antiperspirant, bar soap, body wash, body lotion, hand cream, lip balm and baby care products. The company has a long-standing commitment to supporting people, communities and the living planet. For 45 years, Tom’s of Maine has supported hundreds of nonprofit efforts by giving 10% of its profits back to organizations that support human and environmental goodness and by encouraging employees to use 5% (12 days) of employee time to volunteer. Tom’s of Maine employees regularly contribute suggestions for improving the company’s high sustainability standards. And their ideas, from wind power to ways to improve recycled and recyclable packaging options, are critical to the company’s sensitive way of doing business. Most Tom’s of Maine products are vegan, kosher, halal-certified and gluten-free. All packaging is recyclable through a partnership with upcycling leader TerraCycle or participating municipalities. Tom’s of Maine enjoys partnering with its consumers, suppliers and community organizations to support lasting, positive change that is good for people and the planet. Visit us online at http://www.tomsofmaine.com/ or at http://www.facebook.com/TomsofMaine.

About DonorsChoose.org

Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org makes it easy for anyone to help a classroom in need. Teachers at over two-thirds of all the public schools in America have created project requests, and more than 2 million people have donated $430 million to projects that inspire them. Over 18 million students—most from low-income communities, and many in disaster-stricken areas—have received books, art supplies, field trips, technology, and other resources that they need to learn.

Press Release – DETROIT — Wills Holistic Studio begins program to complimentary heal combat and disabled veterans. The studio, located in Metro Detroit, will be healing its first 11 veterans.

Steve Wills, the owner and head masseuse, is a veteran himself. He was attached to a command during Dessert Shield and Dessert Storm that keep him stateside and safe. Will’s friend in the Navy was not so lucky. His friend, like many combat vets, came back with a plethora of problems, PTSD being just one.

Will’s, owner of Will’s Holistic Studio, felt he needed to give back with his business. He began a program giving combat/disabled veterans massage therapy, with absolutely no cost to them.

“The reason this will mean so much is I get to be part of a solution that strengthens the very fabric of why we fight in the first place, create opportunity for powerful medicine, and to breed relationships so valuable you can’t put a price on them,” Wills said.

The program gives veterans in need a one-hour massage to assist in their treatment and recovery of the many disabling problems they returned home with.One bodywork session can address multiple symptoms. Massage has the ability to control cortisol hormones that PTSD veterans have either clinically high levels of, or a complete burnout of the hormone.

A veteran who suffers from panic attacks and trauma often cannot find immediate help due to how backed up VA care can be. Something as simple as massage therapy can give people their lives back.

“Giving these heroes the attention they earned, need and deserve is a small deed to help them with both a career and a fighting chance to feel whole again,” said Wills.

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Wellesley & Co is a leading alternative finance platform that enables investors to make healthy returns on their capital in the form of attractive interest rates by connecting them with creditworthy borrowers seeking a competitive source of funding.

Press Release – SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – July 25, 2016 – Health 2 Humanity Corp.(H2H), a hygiene products company and the movement for the development of people, sustainable hygiene solutions and #NoMoreDirtyHands campaign, and its nonprofit arm Health 2 Humanity Global, launched a Crowdrise crowdfunding campaign on July 25 with the goal of raising funds to further global expansion of hygiene solutions in developing countries. This nonprofit partner exists to empower those in developing countries to have the skills and resources necessary to create lasting hygienic solutions within their communities. Proceeds from the sale of every bar of H2H all-natural soap funds the efforts of Health 2 Humanity Global. H2H aims to raise $40,000 to further hygiene products production in order to fund the nonprofit’s expansion into new countries, meaning more international vocational programs that create jobs, more scholarships for rising entrepreneurs, more skills development and education, and the implementation of sustainable hygiene solutions in developing countries.

“1.4 million people die of preventable diseases each year,” said John Cefalu, 21-year-old founder of H2H. “While our government and many nonprofits are well-intentioned to help people in these developing nations through donations and other relief efforts, giving only creates dependency. By stark contrast, the H2H model empowers. After witnessing the major hygiene problems in Kenya firsthand, I knew that I needed to help make a change, but I wanted to do it right. That’s when I started making soap in my dorm room, and the model for H2H was born. If I could make the soap myself, so could the people of Kenya – and in turn, create jobs and put an end to preventable disease caused by poor hygiene. That model has now expanded to three nations, dozens of entrepreneurs and thousands of lives impacted through sustainable hygiene solutions. In short, we teach entrepreneurs how to make hygiene products. The entrepreneurs hire staff, give away soap to local orphanages, and sell the rest at a substantially reduced cost compared to major products companies to their local communities. Hygiene is then sustainable and accessible for all within these communities. It’s true when we say, ‘soap saves lives.’”

Yet, H2H does more than just create soap. Through the development of entrepreneurial enterprises in developing countries that so far include Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, communities will not only see hygienic disparities addressed, but they will create a sustainable future without dependency on donations. To date, the H2H network has sustainably donated more than 17,000 bars of soap in seven orphanages, and cut illness rates by more than 25 percent in sponsored areas.

With the crowdfunding campaign run through Crowdrise, Cefalu and the H2H team hope to continue to expand to developing countries to create more entrepreneurs and empower them to have the skills and resources available to create lasting hygienic solutions within their communities.

Health 2 Humanity (H2H) Corp goes beyond soap. It is a movement for the development of people, sustainable hygiene, and #NoMoreDirtyHands. H2H Corp believes that the purchase of everyday products can do so much more than supply big corporations. Every H2H purchase helps fund international vocational programs that create jobs, grant scholarships, develop skills, and improve the lives of people around the world. Through the development of these programs, the company plans to put an end to global health inequality. For more information, visit: www.h2hsoap.com.

About Health 2 Humanity Global

Health 2 Humanity (H2H) is a social enterprise leading the “fight against giving.” The nonprofit believes that all people deserve to have equal access to lifesaving solutions, in hopes of eradicating preventable disease globally. Through the development of entrepreneurs in low-hygiene countries, H2H not only sees hygienic disparities addressed, but the nonprofit creates a sustainable future without dependency. For more information, visit: www.h2hglobal.org.